Well it has been the week of birthdays! We celebrated Sister Adkins birthday, and Sister Salimas, then our less active members birthday sunod sunod (back to back). It has been a good week and SURPRISE.. We have a baptism on Saturday.. and we found out this week (: I will explain later haha
So for starters, we had an interesting Monday, where we were rejected tons, and all we could do was laugh it off. The family literally hid from us, sent the Tatay out, and had him try to awkwardly shoo us away... It is kind of hard to explain haha, but back to back we were punted and rejected, but I am grateful we keep on keeping on (:
Tuesday, AMAZING day! Exchanges with Sister Salamat. I live with her and her companion on Goa and she is from Pakistan. She has been in the Philippines for about 4 weeks and is learning English and Tagalog. I seriously love this girl so much! She is so positive even though she has been struggling. I cannot imagine having to learn so much all at once, but I have seen the Lord helping her so much. When we taught in the morning we went and found a former investigator. I don't know why the missionaries stopped teaching her, but she had been taught so much. She told us how when her daughter was sick, the Elders came to give her a blessing and she got better right away (: It was a great lesson, and the we went tracting, and met this woman who is great friends with a member and had a stroke a few years ago. She was so nice, and then her friend came into the room. We started testifying of the Restoration, and the one friend started sobbing and saying how she has been so sick, and financially struggling, and everything is piling up.. Sister Salamat bore her testimony of God’s love for all of us, and the Spirit was so strong in the room, we were all crying. Then we invited her friend to kneel and pray, and all of us were crying even more. It was as if there was a blanket of love around all of us, and I did not want to leave. I seriously know that the most important language I must speak on my mission is the Language of the Spirit, it overcomes any barrier, and is what truly converts. Then that night we found more formers, and had some great success and then we had a dinner appointment/lesson at an investigators house. Taught them how to do family history and we filled out pedigree charts.. I cannot wait to work more on family history (:
Wednesday, was Sister Adkins birthday. In the morning we went and talked with Barnagays offering to help with events, or activities they have, then I felt prompted to go give a pamphlet to this random security guard at a radio station. He was so receptive, and as we were walking away he right away was reading the pamphlet. We plan on going back to him (: Then we went to lunch with the Higleys. Emma is a sister of a ton of members here and they are visiting from West Jordan,UT.. Yeah they live by the McGraths a little i found out. But anyways Emma’s son Tyler just got back from his mission and they want him to baptize his cousin, JL, who is 9 years old. He always comes to church and Primary, and they are here until the 22nd of July, so JL is getting baptized this Saturday and we had it cleared by our Mission President that he could. So we have been visiting him every day to get him ready. He is soo cute! Our first lesson he cried when we sang I am a Child of God. We are excited for their family (: Then later that day we were able to find more former investigators. One family, the father has been to church so many times and was so close to baptism then he moved away for work. I love looking for former investigators, because they already have a base of the church and have heard some of the lessons before.
Thursday, we had one lesson with one of our progressing families and I was teaching how God has given us agency, and the mother said.. I have chosen Born Again.. it about ripped our hearts out, and Sister Adkins and I looked at each other and were silent for some time, then we felt to teach about the process of baptism, with the right authority like in 3 Nephi.. The Spirit was so strong and the investigators told us we can keep coming, and they want to learn more (: I love promptings, and the truth. I have come to realize so much the power of the Priesthood, and without it we couldn't be saved.
Friday we taught a lesson at the door of a less active teenager, who is searching for the truth. He is almost running from it to have something big happen so he will have no doubt it is true. So often people think conversion is a big time event, when an angel will appear to you, but for me, and most people, it’s through small and simple things that we come to know the truth. It was a powerful lesson and he has so many questions. We invited him to kneel and pray to know the truth. We felt the Spirit so strong, and he said he didn't. It was so hard to help him understand it, but we came to understand that he needs to continue and restart his reading, prayers, and going to church.
Saturday, we went to one of our far areas I have never been to, and it was beautiful! I am really going to miss the beauty of the Philippines! The palm trees, coconuts, bananas left and right... rice fields... i am so lucky I am serving here (:
We were searching for a referral later in the day and met this man who is a teacher at the college.. He was speaking English to us, and said we could come back and teach his family that night. We did, and the Nanay, and all 6 children were ready to listen to us! Then the lightning storm started, and we saw the lightning strike right in front of their house, and the power went out.. we were a little scared just because we were pushing it close to curfew and had to catch the bus home, but Brother has so many questions about the rock on which Christ's church is built... and much more, but it was great and we are excited to go back to them (:
Sunday, church was great, has some meetings where we talked about our church tour coming up on July 26, then we did splits and I worked with Lherna. We taught some of the recent converts, and I got some buko (coconut) out of a tree with a bamboo pole and a knife at the end of it (: Then we found some less actives and they haven't had missionaries visit them since 2012. Glad we found them (:
I seriously have been reflecting so much this week on the growth I have seen in myself, and it is so much! I am still myself, but so much better, refined, and closer to my Savior. I want more than anything to do family history work right when I get back, and share with everyone! I love this Gospel. I always have, it’s just more engrained into me now. I hope all of you let the Lord change you. In order to become like Him, we have to be willing to change our hearts. I still have so much to work on, but I am loving this time I focus on the change in others and in myself. Love you all so much (: xoxox
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| Sis. Webster and Sis. Adkins, both from Spokane,WA |
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